


Strangers In The Night

by earthseraph



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, M/M, Military!Bucky, Teacher!Steve, loss of limb, proposal, this is just pointless fluff okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 19:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4448045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earthseraph/pseuds/earthseraph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had it all planned out, you see. Ever since he was shipped off to his last tour he knew the moment he got home he was going to ask his Stevie to marry him. Simple get down on his knee, pull out ring, and ask. Then he got all fucked up.</p><p>(or: the one where Bucky loses an arm and asks Steve to marry him.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strangers In The Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is all just pointless fluff and Bucky's more okay with missing an arm than he should be but *shrugs* what can ya do?
> 
> Anyways, title's from [Strangers In The Night by Frank Sinatra.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHuko5BCFzA) I honestly didn't know what line to use from this song bc it encompasses everything in this fic so I just went with the title. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Bucky felt odd walking into a high school dressed like he was. Hat tucked between his arm and side, shoes tapping against the glossy floor, fatigues stretching across his shoulders like a second skin. Nerves were bubbling low in his belly with each step he took closer to the main office, ring burning a hole in his pocket, and a little voice in the back of his head telling him how much trouble he was going to be in because he didn’t call Steve or his parents the second he touched American soil. 

He had it all planned out, you see. Ever since he was shipped off to his last tour he knew the moment he got home he was going to ask his Stevie to marry him. Simple get down on his knee, pull out ring, and ask. Then he got all fucked up. An IED went off while they were moving from Base A to Base B. He happened to be closest to the IED and pushed whomever he could out of the way, losing his arm when the darn thing blew up. When the rescue units came they asked him if he wanted to call his emergency contact he declined because no way was he going to make Steve or his Ma worry from across the ocean.

So now he’s home a little bit (a lot) earlier than he was supposed to be, missing an arm, with a simple wedding band burning a hole in his back pocket. And with his luck Steve was going to punch him in the nose before he can even get out _will you marry me?_ But, hey, once they told him marriage was completely legal in the states, he knew he’d take any punch in the nose from Steve if it meant he got to marry his best guy.

Bucky sucked in a breath and kept walking, little nub of an arm holding his hat tight to his side, and butterflies fluttering up a storm in his stomach that had all to do with the ring and nothing to do with his missing arm. He kept up with a slow pace to the main office, one foot in front of the other, left, right, left, right. He gave small smiles to the kids who stopped and stared, waved a bit to some of the staff that he knew through Steve, and finally tapped his finger against bell on the front desk. 

“Hey, Darcy. Write me up a pass, will ya?” Bucky leaned himself against the desk casually and smirked when a dark wave of hair popped up into his vision. 

“Steve didn’t tell me you were home, Bucko.” She said clicking a pen rapidly before filling the pass out, “He’s usually all giddy and stuff.”

Bucky shrugged and moved his hat up the crook of his arm with his hand, “Steve don’t know I’m here yet.”

“He doesn’t-” She dropped her pen and leaned up, slapping his shoulder, “He’s going to punch you. You know that right? I’m gonna’ see you back here with a bloody nose.”

“Well,” he said, digging his hand back into his pocket, “I hope this can sway him.” He placed the ring on Darcy’s desk and watched her eyes widen, looking from the ring back to him.

“You’re going to ask him to marry you?!” She squealed, almost falling out of her chair, “Can I be the flower girl? And Thor can be ring bear! Oh-oh, Stark can marry you guys. Nat and Sam can be you guys’ best-whatevers.”

Bucky chuckled and took the ring, slipping it back in his pocket, “What would Banner or Clint do?”

Darcy made a face and hummed, “Uh- Oh! Bruce could give you away and Clint could be like the wedding singer or something.”

“I’ll have to run that by Steve, you know how he is.” He took the sticky pass from her and stuck it to the front of his uniform, “Well, I gotta’ go propose to a man.”

She gave him a salute, “Good luck! Oh, and don’t think I didn’t miss the missing limb. You better tell me about it later.”

Bucky nodded, grateful that she didn’t press about his arm- or lack of-, pushed himself away from the desk with a sloppy salute, and left the office. He decided to take the scenic route and walked through hallways he hadn’t seen in months. When he passed the cafeteria he paused for a moment, smiling because this was where he first met Steve.

It was almost five years ago when they met, Bucky was here with the army trying to recruit high school students and give a speech to the kids about the benefits of joining the army. The last class that happened to go into the cafeteria for the presentation was Steve’s, and it might sound cheesy, but when Bucky laid his eyes on the short and skinny blonde that was Steve Rogers, he knew he’d be head over heels in no time. 

So, being the professional army man that he was, Bucky gave his little speech. He went through what exactly Army Strong was, he told the kids about the GI bill and what it entailed, and when he played the short video he moved to the back of the room, shamelessly getting close to the blonde teacher. He flirted, he leered, pulled all his salacious moves out, and when he video was over and the lights were turned back on, he had Steve’s number in his pocket. They ended up going on countless dates while Bucky was still on American soil, both of them wanting to take it slow and get to know each other. It wasn’t until the day before Bucky was shipped out that they finally gave in and made it official.

And now, years later, Bucky was about to try and make it all kinds of official with legal documents and wedding rings.

Bucky continued walking through the school, taking his time, looking at how the school’s changed since the last time here. For one, the last time he was here it was around Christmas, now it’s late September and everywhere he turns there’s some lumpy cutout pumpkins promoting the Halloween dance and leaf flyers with dates for the fall festival. 

He looked up at one of the clocks hanging in the hallway and picked up his pace. It was almost time for the day to be over and the last thing he wanted was Steve booking it home, anticipating a phone call from the army- he knew Steve would be doing that, waiting for something, _anything_ to let him know that Bucky was alive. 

Bucky knew it was wrong not to call Steve or some member of his family when he was hurt, he knew that Steve’s probably worried out of his mind right now, but he didn’t want to worry him even more with talk of missing limbs when Bucky was weeks away from coming home (when the rescue team got to his platoon he’d lost too much blood to be flown to an American hospital without dying, so they had to operate and watch over him overseas, meaning weeks away from home, weeks away from seeing anyone he cared for). He didn’t want the thought of him losing an arm on Steve’s mind constantly, when- for some odd reason- Bucky was oddly at terms with it. 

Sure, in the beginning when he woke up in the hospital down one arm it was a shocker. He had to talk to a shrink everyday until they released him, but he understood. He knew that he lost his arm but saved the men in his platoon, he knew that things weren’t going to be all peaches and cream in the near months but that if he was at terms with limb not being there then Steve would adapt to it to. He knew that he was probably going to have some sort of PTSD and phantom pain, but right now, all that mattered was getting down on one knee and asking Steve to be with him forever. 

Steve always mattered the most in his book, anyways. He was always put before anything in Bucky’s mind, and that might be unhealthy, he should probably have gone to see- or even called- his parents and sister first, but Steve was his other half. Steve’s been a permanent fixture in his life since he saw him that day in this same school, it’s always felt like they’ve been life long friends, and Bucky’s pretty sure if soulmates were a thing they’d be a definite match. 

Bucky rounded the corner to Steve’s classroom. The hallways were still quite because school was in session but there was an anticipatory buzz in the air where all the students were waiting for the bell to ring and freedom to be theirs until school was back in session tomorrow. 

He leaned himself as casually as he could against the wall beside Steve’s door, he knew when the bell rang Steve would open it to let his students out. Telling all his kids to have a good day and pausing to talk to the few he favored. He knew when the hoard of kids cleared out of the hallway that Steve would finally notice him, standing there sans one arm, dressed to the nines in his blues. 

Butterflies were tearing at his stomach as the minutes passed, the ring burning in his pocket, thoughts of _what if Steve says no?_ running through head unhelpfully. 

He jumped when the final bell rang, going from leaning against the wall causally to standing ramrod straight like a higher up called to attention. His heart skipped a beat when Steve opened his door. He was wearing his glasses today, a thin orange sweater loose on his torso, slim black slacks, and those oxfords Bucky shelled a fuck ton of money on. His lips were pink and chapped, probably from the cool weather, and his hair was longer than when Bucky shipped off, flopped over the side of his face making him look more like a hipster than should be allowed. 

He watched as students passed him, Steve greeting each of them, not noticing him almost lurking beside his door. He kind of wanted to push all Steve’s students to the side and drop down on one knee right there in front of Steve, for all eyes to see. But he didn’t want to make a spectacle of things, he wanted Steve’s reply and initial shock to be his own- something he could keep close to his heart that he knew nobody else would see. So he waited, watching from the sidelines like some creep, and ignored all the teachers and students who gave him odd looks, obviously not recognizing him.

The hallway was mostly cleared when Steve’s last student was chatting with him. He ignored their conversation, prepping himself for a possible punch to the face and running what he was going to tell Steve through his head like lines for a play. 

When the student left he cleared his throat and pushed himself off the wall, “You should be more aware of your surroundings, Stevie, especially in these parts.” 

Steve’s head snapped his way, baby blue eyes widening, a hand shooting up to his mouth to cover the sharp gasp that emitted from his mouth.

Bucky gave him some time to pull himself together, wanting Steve to say something first instead of spewing his long tale of what happened overseas. 

“Bucky?” Steve said, his voice was hushed in the silent hallway and Bucky smiled. 

“Hey, Stevie, miss me?” He took a step towards Steve, letting his hat drop to the floor, extending out his single arm, his smile going watery when a tear rolled down Steve’s cheek. He entwined their fingers, giving Steve something solid to hold onto while he processed everything.

“When did you get back?” Steve asked, his eyes darting around Bucky’s face and body until they landed on the empty sleeve. Steve gasped and flicked his eyes back up to Bucky’s, “What happened?”

“I only just got back and as for the arm..” Bucky looked at his shoes and rolled his lips between his teeth, sighing, “As for the arm, an IED went off, I was closest to it and got caught in the explosion when I pushed my platoon out of the way.” He looked back up at Steve, giving him a small smile, “Everyone made it out okay, I think my arm was a fair trade for that.”

Steve placed his hand on what was left of Bucky’s arm, a look of disbelief still on his face, “Why didn’t they call me? Why didn’t your mom tell me?”

“They don’t know, Stevie,” Bucky whispered, “As soon as I got here the first thing I did was come to you,” (the first actual thing he did was go and get the ring from the jewelers, but Steve didn’t need to know that just yet) “I know I need to tell them, and I know I should have let someone from my platoon call you guys but I didn’t want anyone worrying when there was nothing they could do. I was overseas and you guys were here and I wasn’t about to put the people I love in that position.”

Steve frowned, still looking at Bucky’s arm, “I should punch you for not calling us,” he started before flicking his eyes back to Bucky’s, “but I’m not ‘cause you’re home and I’ve missed you and just-” he let out a slow breath and Bucky was prepared to run inside the classroom and find Steve’s inhaler when Steve started talking again, “-just hug me Buck, please.”

Bucky nodded, pulling Steve in as close as he could with the one arm, relaxing into Steve's body when the smaller man tightly wrapped his arms around him. 

They both stood there for a while, breathing each other in, equally shedding tears because Bucky could believe he made it home for good and Steve couldn’t believe that Bucky was here. It was the most emotional reunion they had, usually there was playful banter, deep kisses, and wide grins. But today it was touching and holding, soft spoken words and shed tears. It was _intimate_ and Bucky didn’t want to break the spell but he had one more thing to do before they got back to the real world. 

“Hey, Stevie?” Bucky whispered into Steve’s ear, “there’s something in my right, back pocket for you, can ya’ get it?” he thought about dropping down on one knee and pulling the ring out, but he didn’t want to break the embrace with Steve and he figured since he lost an arm his center of gravity would be different and he’d probably flop to the side and look like an idiot. Not something he wants to do when he’s trying to have an emotional moment with Steve. 

He could feel Steve’s bony fingers digging around in his back pocket, pausing abruptly when they found the ring. He felt Steve slowly bringing his hand around and wedge it in between their bodies, ring held between his thumb and pointer finger. 

“Buck, what’s this?”

Bucky nudged his head against Steve’s, not wanting to let Steve go for a second but needed to get some sort of affection across, “It’s a ring, dummy.” 

“But.. what’s it for?”

He could almost see the furrow between Steve’s eyebrows and wanted to snort at his confusion, but held back, again not wanting the moment to be broken, “I wanna’ marry you,” he pressed his nose to Steve’s temple, “What’d ya say?”

“Yes,” Steve said quietly at first, he moved back to look up at Bucky, “yes! I- I want nothing more than to marry you- of course.”

“Yeah?” Bucky asked, breathless. He knew Steve would say yes, but it was still a little surreal to actually hear it. 

“Yeah,” Steve nodded, slipping the ring on his own finger, “yeah.”

Bucky held Steve closer with his arm and kissed the side of his head. He knew they weren’t going to have a smooth ride for the rest of their life- with PTSD creeping in the corner of his mind and his lost arm- but right now, with Steve in his arms and a wedding in their future, everything was perfect. 

- _End_

**Author's Note:**

> Follow [My Tumblr](http://pesmenos.tumblr.com/) for crying over Stucky and Sebastian Stan.
> 
> And if you guys could reblog [this post](http://pesmenos.tumblr.com/post/125281430915/strangers-in-the-night-by-earthseraph-rating-g) I made for the fic, that would be so great.


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